Steve Bucknor

Steve Bucknor

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Anthony Bucknor
Nickname	Slow Death
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Umpiring information
Tests umpired	119 (1989–present)
ODIs umpired	167 (1989–present)
Career statistics
Source: Cricinfo, 8 September 2007

The Honourable Stephen Anthony Bucknor OJ, popularly known as Steve Bucknor, is an internationally known cricket umpire. He was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 31 May 1946. He became a high school mathematics teacher and sports coach, before going on to be one of Jamaica's leading sports officials as an international football referee and more famously as a cricket umpire. In October 2007 he was awarded the Order of Jamaica, Commander Class, for outstanding services in the field of sports.

Football Referee

Bucknor was a FIFA referee in the World Cup qualifier between El Salvador and the Netherlands Antilles in 1988. Soon after this, Bucknor had to retire from football refereeing because the FIFA age limit for referees was lowered to 45. However, this allowed him to pursue his career as a cricket umpire.

Cricket Umpire

Bucknor's first international cricket fixture was a One Day International (ODI) between the West Indies and India at Antigua on March 18, 1989. His first Test match was at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, between April 28 and May 3, 1989, with the competing teams again being the West Indies and India. After umpiring in a few international matches, he was selected to umpire at the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australasia, and went on to stand in the final despite being quite inexperienced. Bucknor also stood in the next four World Cup finals in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007, with the 2007 World Cup taking place in his native West Indies.

In 1994 the ICC introduced a policy whereby one of the umpires in each Test match would be independent of the competing nations, seleceted from the International Panel of Umpires. Bucknor was a member of this panel from its foundation until the ICC changed its policy on umpires again in 2002. Since then both umpires in Test matches, and one of the umpires in ODI's have been independent of the competing countries. The officials are now chosen from the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, which is widely thought to contain the world's best umpires. Bucknor has maintained a place on the Elite Panel since its foundation.

Bucknor is known for taking a long time to consider LBW appeals before giving a decision.

Achievements as an Umpire

Cricket World Cup

Bucknor has stood as an onfield umpire in five World Cup tournaments, during which he has officiated 44 matches including a record five finals.

Test Match Record

Bucknor holds the record for the most Test matches umpired, and is so far the only umpire to have officiated in over 100 Test matches. He has stood in 14 Ashes Test matches and officiated in Bangladesh's first ever Test match.

One Day Inetrnationals

Bucknor has officiated in the third highest number of ODI's, with Rudi Koertzen and David Shepherd having officiated more ODI's.

Awards

Bucknor has received the ICC's Bronze Bails awards for umpiring in 100 ODI's, as well as the Gold Bails award for umpiring 100 Test matches.

Recent Career

Bucknor has come in for criticism in recent times for his poor umpiring decisions particularly against India. He was widely criticised for his poor decision making during India's tour of Australia in 2003-04. In May 2006 he accused TV companies of doctoring their images to make umpires look bad, and he was one of the umpires responsible for the farcical finish to the 2007 World Cup final.

However, he got 96% of decisions right in 2005-06, which was above the average of 94.8% for the Elite Panel as a whole. In 2007 he was short-listed for the Umpire of the Year award, which was ultimately won by Simon Taufel.

The media heavily criticised Bucknor for a decision he made to give Andrew Symonds not out in the Test match between India and Australia at Sydney in January 2008. He also gave Dravid out for a ball that clipped his pad in the same match which arguably was the turning point of the match hence questioning his membership of the Elite Panel.

International Umpiring Statistics

	First	Last	Total
Tests	West Indies v India at Kingston, April 1989	Australia v India at Sydney, January 2008	120
ODIs	West Indies v India at St. John's, March 1989	India v Australia at Chandigarh, October 2007	167

Forthcoming Appointments

Team 1	Team 2	Match	Date	Venue
Australia	India	3rd Test	16-20 January	Perth

Further reading

• Silvera, Janet. (October 7, 2007) Jamaica Gleaner Howzat? Firm decisions make Bucknor a hit.

External links

• Steve Bucknor Profile on Cricinfo website.

• Main page of Elite Panel.